Charlotte: you sneak into the lottery stealing Detroit's pick after making the playoffs and Noah Vonleh falls to you! Great look for the return of the Hornets. Vonleh will be able to play with Big Al and provide them with needed athleticism, scoring and rebounding. Then they swap 24 and 26 with Miami and get PJ Hairston at 26 who is an NBA ready 6'5" bull of a 2 guard that fills an immediate need. Those that worry about Hairston's off court past, I'd say that if he can't figure it out stepping into a situation like this where your boss is Michael Jordan, who coincidentally is an alum of the same school you attended, then he never will. Great night for Charlotte.
Utah: Many including myself thought this pick was being moved, then Dante Exum falls in their lap (Orlando passed on him and rolled the dice, more on them later) an amazing break for a team searching for both potential star power and an identity. Dante and Trey Burke are both smart enough to figure out how to share the back court together. But the Jazz weren't done as they were back up at #23 and Rodney Hood is still on the board. To get a 6'8" lefty, small forward with great NCAA experience and an NBA ready three ball at this point in the draft is rare. Whether Gordon Hayward stays or goes, Hood fits nicely into this Jazz rebuild.
Orlando: The Magic were not only winners on draft night, but they also showed some serious ONIONS. With a glaring need at PG they roll the dice and take Aaron Gordon at #4 over Dante Exum and Marcus Smart. With PG Elfrid Payton on the board they were hoping he'd fall to them at #12 but the Sixers grab him at #10. Orlando then takes Dario Saric at #12 and works out a deal to send him to Philly with a future first round pick for Payton. The Magic now have Payton, Gordon, Victor, Vucevic, Harris and Harkless to move forward with. After dealing Afflalo they most certainly will need to add a veteran or two (I thought they could have gotten more besides Evan Fournier and #54 overall for Afflalo but I think they wanted to just him moving elsewhere and his $ off the cap, though it is an expiring deal) but the Magic did the most they could with the #4 and #12 picks on both talent and filling team needs.
Boston: Does Marcus Smart excite the Coach as much as Dante Exum or Aaron Gordon? No. But getting him at #6 makes some sense considering we don't know whether or not Rondo will want to resign next summer. I do not think Rondo is on the move before the season as Brad Stevens and Danny Ainge are building around him and the Celtics would not be getting anything close to equal value right now. Plus Smart, playing behind and/or next to Rondo can work for Boston. At #17 the C's get James Young, who can play either the 2 or the 3 and has a HUGE upside as an offensive weapon. The Celtics are now very strong in the back court and on the wing, especially if Avery Bradley is resigned. Next is figuring out how to cash in on some of these future assets and add another all-star to the Celtics. Kevin Love remains dream scenario number one, but that is still just that, a dream, at the moment.
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